


The Epidemic

by Brook1



Category: Warriors- Erin Hunter
Genre: Angst with a happy-ish ending, F/F, F/M, Heavy Angst, Illness, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25185871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brook1/pseuds/Brook1
Summary: LeafClan through the sickness- through Swiftpath’s eyes. Prequel to Path of Light, but you don’t have to read that to understand this. This is pretty short.
Relationships: Archfeather/Birdhowl, Fatetail/Appleclaw, Nativeflight/Juniperheart, OC/OC, Poolstorm/Lightpelt, Swiftpath/Skyclaw, They’re all OCs - Relationship
Kudos: 1





	1. Allegiances

**LeafClan**

Leader: Cinderstar- dark gray she-cat with thick fur

Deputy: Poolstorm- large pale blue-gray tom with black tail

Medicine Cat: Hollowhoney- yellow tabby she-cat

**Apprentice, Gophershadow**

Warriors: Swiftpath- small, lithe senior pale brown she-cat with blue eyes, white feet, and darker underbelly

**Apprentice, Snakepaw**

Skyclaw- dark ginger she-cat with pale blue eyes

Nativeflight- senior dark brown tabby tom

Fireshade- bright ginger tom

Stonefeather- heavyset brown-and-gray mottled she-cat

**Apprentice, Currentpaw**

Ravenfang- thick-furred black she-cat

Juniperheart- bright ginger she-cat with amber eyes

Birdhowl- tortoiseshell tom

Larktail- gray spotted tom with long tail

Longheart- deaf white she-cat

Kitesnarl- orange she-cat

Bouncewind- brown tabby tom

**Apprentice, Ferretpaw**

Gorsepelt- brown tabby she-cat with gray eyes

Ragepelt- spiky-furred brown tom

Berryfoot- creamy brown tom

Apprentices: Gophershadow- black-and-brown tabby tom

Snakepaw- dappled pale ginger and gray tom with amber eyes

Currentpaw- long-furred ginger tabby tom

Ferretpaw- large brown tom

Queens: Lightpelt- very pale gray she-cat, mother to Poolstorm’s kits, Molekit (blue-gray tom), Grasskit (light gray tabby she-cat), and Shiningkit (gray she-kit with unique spotting pattern)

Archfeather- black she-cat, mother to Riverkit (black tom with wavy fur), Vinekit (tuxedo tom), Dapplekit (mottled red, white, blue-gray, and black she-cat), Yewkit (tortoiseshell she-kit), and Fallkit (blue-gray tabby tom), Birdhowl’s kits

Elders: Fatetail- tailless white she-cat

Appleclaw- tortoiseshell she-cat 

Jayheart- gray tom with white patches 


	2. The Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story. This would have been a one-shot if not for the allegiances.

Swiftpath knew that something was terribly wrong when Skyclaw fell out of a tree. Her mate was practically a squirrel, leaping from branch to branch with ease. That made her the best bird hunter in LeafClan. So when she coughed, jumped short and fell on a hunting patrol, Swiftpath felt fear spike through her and froze. Snakepaw, ever helpful, rushed over and helped Skyclaw to her feet.

The dark ginger she-cat claimed that she was fine, it was just a cold, but only got worse in the next few days. Hollowhoney looker her over and decided that the disease was unknown, so Skyclaw would have to be quarantined. Swiftpath led the charge to build a den on the far side of camp, making it as comfortable as possible for her stubborn and miserable mate.

Skyclaw was not the first cat sick. Birdhowl had been coughing for days on end before joining his Clanmate in the quarantine den. Then three young cats: Ragepelt, his sister and Swiftpath’s former apprentice Gorsepelt, and Kitesnarl. The healthy cats built a new den. The sickness acted like greencough but was much quicker to spread and slower-acting when in a cat’s body, making it a particularly horrifying way to die. Hollowhoney and Gophershadow had no idea how to fight it and could only ease cats’ pain.

The number of sick cats exploded in the next moon. Cinderstar had always been somewhat frail and lost her remaining lives to the illness, making a shocked Poolstorm the next leader. Though he was worried about his mate and kits, who had only been apprentices for a quarter moon before falling ill, he received his nine lives and became Poolstar. He appointed Ravenfang, a very experienced and as-of-yet healthy warrior, as the new deputy.

As warriors weakened, it became clear that the oldest cats were left untouched. Suddenly, the age gaps in Nativeflight and Swiftpath’s relationships with mother and daughter Juniperheart and Skyclaw were absolutely wrenching. All Swiftpath could do to distract herself through hunting. One upside was that she learned to fully sign with Longheart, the deaf senior warrior. They developed a great working relationship, especially when they were the only three healthy warriors left. Ferretpaw remained strong even while sick, only losing the ability to hunt near the end of the epidemic, and proved to have very powerful back legs, earning him the warrior name Ferretleap.

The first deaths came after Archfeather and three of her kits sickened. Skyclaw lost almost her entire family when her mother Juniperheart and brothers Bouncewind and Currentpaw died in order. Juniperheart had been beloved to both Nativeflight and Swiftpath, and her death left a pallor of grief that did not go away for many moons over them.

Berryfoot. Lightpelt and Molepaw on the same night, crushing Poolstar, and Grasspaw was gone in the next half-moon. Ragepelt. Archfeather’s howls let the Clan know that Riverkit, Yewkit, and Fallkit had died one miserable morning. Their siblings Vinekit and Dapplekit, meanwhile, had the run of the camp as the three healthy warriors, the youngest elder Jayheart, and a weakening Ferretleap hunted constantly. There was no trouble at all on the borders, as the epidemic had hit all of the Clans hard (and, apparently, the rogues).

The worst part about the deaths was the time in between them. A few cats could die at once, but there was at least a half-moons’ wait after. Swiftpath found herself wishing that her Clanmates’ suffering would end- even Skyclaw’s at times. The she-cat had lost all of her muscle mass and would never be able to hunt and leap like she had if she survived. Birdhowl was hobbling around, staring at his two remaining kits with wide, longing eyes from a distance.

Warrior duties were absolutely overwhelming. It was the end of Leaf-Bare and prey hadn’t begun to run yet, so the warriors were trying their hardest and catching very little. Swiftpath hardly ate anything at all for the amount of work that she did. Hollowhoney and Gophershadow, along with the other elders Appleclaw and Fatetail, were splitting up the prey among the strongest, which still included Skyclaw, thankfully. It was a heartbreaking task for the medicine cats and helpers, but it would be a waste to give precious food to dying cats. 

Ravenfang passed away along with Snakepaw, who had begged to die a warrior and been named Snakeclaw, five moons into the epidemic, followed by Larktail the next day. After Ravenfang had fallen ill, Poolstar hadn’t appointed a new deputy and Nativeflight had stepped up to the position.

Now, Poolstar had to name a new deputy. Swiftpath fully expected him to choose Nativeflight for his experience and friendship, but was surprised when the new leader (who had lost a life and then immediately gotten sick again- the most terrifying part about the epidemic) called out her name during the ceremony. 

She accepted the position, of course. Her duties didn’t truly kick in until the end of the epidemic, which finally came when Hollowhoney found out that a pulp of horsetail and parsley could cure less severe cases. She herself died soon after Shiningpaw, Poolstar’s last kit, but cured the others.

Hollowhoney saved Fireshade, Kitesnarl, Stonefeather, Poolstar from losing another life, Archfeather, Birdhowl, Gorsepelt, Ferretleap, and Skyclaw as well as other Clan cats that received the cure in time (of course they shared it with the other Clans; SpireClan had figured it out anyway and no cat would willingly allow more to die). Swiftpath was relieved that her mate was alive, but Skyclaw’s bones were now weak and she needed moons to recover. The only thing keeping the dark ginger warrior from absolute despair was the vestiges of her former cheerful, bright personality.

In the next few moons, Greenleaf set in and prey finally began to run well. All survivors gained much-needed weight and Stonefeather gave birth to her second and final litter, two toms named Budkit and Spiderkit and a blind she-kit, Icekit. The father was most certainly not from LeafClan, but no cat mentioned it. They were in dire need of new blood. 

Swiftpath settled into her duties as deputy and developed an understanding with Poolstar. They played well off of each other; Poolstar was trusting and slightly reckless, while Swiftpath reserved judgment and held the large leader back from his crazier ideas. She had a great sense of the moods of LeafClan and even the other Clans, partly due to the respect she had worked to build throughout her warriorhood and also because she tended to stay out of internal conflicts. Even the youngest kits came to her as a fair mediator for fights. 

LeafClan recovered, but Swiftpath knew that more was coming. So when a group of Twolegplace cats joined and the Clan divided, she prepared for more trouble and death to come. 


End file.
